Zakrzewski lands at Holy Cross

Sports

SIGNINGS

Riley Bullough, S, St. Francis, Michigan State

Kevin Cronin, K, TC West, Michigan State

Mike Riojas, WR, Mesick, Valparaiso

John Zakrzewski, OLB, St. Francis, Holy Cross

Isaiah Hackney, QB, TC West, Michigan Tech

Joe Nugent, DL, Frankfort, Michigan Tech

Jordan Strope, OL, TC West, Northern Michigan

Joe Robbins, S, Petoskey, Grand Valley

Hunter Thompson, DE, McBain, Ferris State

Zach Swaffer, DL, St. Francis, Hillsdale

Marc Stein, OL, St. Francis, Hillsdale

Nolan Davenport, LB, Lake City, Northern Michigan

Josh Hogan, TE, Charlevoix, Northern Michigan

Tyler Leightner, P, Cadillac, Northern Michigan

Related Photos

John Zakrzewski, left, played at Taft School last season after graduating from TC St. Francis. Special to the Record-Eagle/Philip Dutton

February 2, 2012

Gladiator standout played for a year at boarding school

BY MIKE ECKERT meckert@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Thu Feb 02, 2012, 07:55 AM EST

TRAVERSE CITY — Good things come to those who wait.

That's what happened to John Zakrzewski on Wednesday when he signed his letter-of-intent to play football at Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.

Signing with the Crusaders completed two-year run through the recruiting process for the St. Francis grad.

"It was a long process, waiting on colleges," Zakrzewski said. "I was trying to see if I could get any D-1 offers. Through the process, some of the other connections that came up were Holy Cross, Colgate and some of the other Patriot League schools. Through that, I waited to make a decision. This seemed like a good fit."

Zakrzewski graduated from St. Francis last fall. He had opportunities to walk on at several schools, but instead opted to attend Taft School — a boarding school in Connecticut for a one-year post-graduate program.

"Johnny had gone through the recruiting process and he had offers and opportunities, but he wasn't necessarily comfortable with them," St. Francis coach Greg Vaughan said. "It wasn't the right fit. It ended up working out very well for him."

After a year at Taft, Zakrzewski took a scholarship with Holy Cross, an NCAA FCS school — formerly known as Division I-AA.

"Holy Cross has either been 1-2 in their conference the last few years," Vaughan said. "Historically speaking, they have a lot of tradition. He's going to have the opportunity to continue playing the sport he loves, and get an unbelievable education."

"The academics there are really rigorous," Zakrzewski said. "It's a liberal arts school, so I'll get a great education. And the tradition that they have at the school for after college are phenomenal. I'll get to play to play great football, D-1 football and I'll be able to get a good education."

Zakrzewski, who was part of two state-title teams at St. Francis, continued winning this fall at Taft. The Rhinos were unbeaten and won the New England Class A championship.

"We had a great season," Zakrzewski said. "One of our games in the regular season got cancelled because we had a huge snowstorm. The team we were supposed to play, we actually faced in the championship game. It was a great game. It was a great year. Everything turned out well."

The 6-foot-1, 215 pounder played free safety and tight end at Taft.

"Tight end was a change," said Zakrzewski, who played running back at St. Francis. "The biggest change here was the size, going from our D-7 small school in Traverse City, to the guys we faced here. We were the smallest team in the Prep School league. Our average lineman weighed about 200 pounds. Everyone else we faced were at least 235-240. It was a challenge, but it worked out well."

At Holy Cross, Zakrzewski said he'll be a "hybrid outside linebacker, strong safety."

Signing with the Crusaders, John Zakrzewski joins his older brother Matt — a linebacker at Indiana — as a college football player. It also keeps him on the East Coast for the next few years.

"I've really enjoyed myself," John Zakrzewski said. "The great thing about the East Coast that I really like about it is that everything is really close. It's interconnected. I really like it."

Zakrzewski's signing on Wednesday capped a big day for the St. Francis football program. Riley Bullough signed his letter-of-intent to play at Michigan State, while Zach Swaffer and Marc Stein signed letters to play at Hillsdale.

"It's a very exciting day for St. Francis, and for all our athletes," Vaughan said. "Our kids work very hard. It's amazing that every single kid could have gone to those schools academically. They work hard not only on the field, but in the classroom."